Cranberry Pork French Dip Sandwich

So you might have noted, if you read my blog, that the last recipe was a Cranberry Onion Pork Tenderloin cooked in the crock pot. You might have also noted that somehwere in that post I said what a good idea it would be to make a french dip out of it. Well I did it and am I ever glad I did.

Baby Cakes gave this one a 10 and a half, his words, and also told me that he would gladly eat this every single night. It's a keeper.

Now this recipe isn't an exact. It's more like a shmear of this and dab of that kind of thing. I do recommend that you use the cranberry sauce and mayo on this sandwich. The swiss and cranberry go so very well together.


Cranberry Pork French Dip

a hoagie roll
butter
mayo
cranberry sauce
swiss cheese
pork tenderloin, shredded
cooking juices

Slice the hoagie in half, butter and toast both sides. Put the bottom half down on a heatproof dish or baking sheet and top with some warm shredded pork and a slice of swiss; put under broiler and melt cheese. Spread some cranberry sauce and mayo on the top inside half of the toasted hoagie and put on top of the pork and cheese half. Serve along with some chips and warmed cooking juices to dip the sandwich in.


Like I said Baby Cakes loved this, as did my Mother in Law and I. Wonderful sandwich. Make it.

XOXO.

Happy Fall Y'all!

I can not beleive that autumn is here. It is my FAVORITE season. I can hardly wait to watch Hocus Pocus and munch on Halloween goodies. Not to mention all the seasonal treats. Sweet potatoes, pumpkin dishes, stews, chili's and gooey casseroles. I really could go on forever.

I've noticed that some other bloggers are sharing thier autumn inspired recipes from the past so I thought that I might share some of mine as well. I don't have a ton because this is only my second fall as a blogger but know that I will be adding new recipes this season. However, until then here are a few of my favorites from last year.

Plum Chicken Over Mashed Sweet Potatoes


Chicken and Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes


Spicy Venison and Corn Chowder


Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake


Brown Sugar Pie


Cinnamon and Sunflower Seed Brittle


Next week I'm going to share all the Halloween yummies!

XOXO.

Cranberry Onion Pork Tenderloin

I have a confession, I have never, not once before, used a crockpot. Although I know those who have and even have a cookbook full of slow-cooker recipes, I personally have never even taken it out of the cabinet. Until now.

One of my best friends in the whole wide world (and actually my Aunt), Maggie, told me about a recipe she created the other day. I can't tell you how, when or why but I can tell you that the second she told me about it, actually she was probably still telling me about it, I yelled give me the recipe. Anything that mixes meat and fruit together is making it's way into my stomach at some point. I might have mentioned this in a earlier post but I do do do love me, wink, some fruit and meat dishes. I was a little nervous about the slow cooking however and thought maybe I should cook it on my day off but no, what's the point if I don't take advantage of this while I am infact at work, hence too busy to want to or to actually cook dinner in the evening? I have offically slow cooked.

This dish was simply enough amazing. For various reasons, first I didn't make it through the door until almost 9 pm, had some errands to run after work, and would not have cooked had it not been for the slow cooker. All I had to do was heat up some veggie, Steamfresh and an Uncle Ben's microwave pouch of rice and tada dinner in done. Secondly, it was one of the best pork dishes I have ever eaten, ever! It was flavorful, tender, infact when I tried to cut it it just shred hence the "pulled pork" in the pictures below. And the sauce that it made? It was like an au jus but instead of beefy it was cranberry and pork. Grrrrr. Yum! Infact this could have oh so easily made a wonderful pork sandwich with au jus for dipping. Lightbulb moment! Wink.

Baby Cakes loved it, I, most importantly, loved it. Everything about it is loveable. What's not to love?



Cranberry Onion Pork Tenderloin
recipe shared by me from Maggie Bollom

1 lb or more pork tenderloin*
1 can cranberry sauce
1 packet lipton onion soup mix
1 cup water

Put the pork tenderlion into the crockpot.

Roughly break the cranberry sauce apart in a bowl using a fork. Add the onion soup mix and water to the cranberry sauce bowl and mix together; pour over the pork.

Now put the lid on the crockpot, turn it on low and cook for 8 hours.

*our tenderloin came with 2 smaller ones in one pack but it equalled the same amount so I cooked them both.


You will be so glad that you made this. It is incredible and I can't even wrap my head around how easy a slowcooker makes getting dinner on the table. I am in love.

Oh and just a side note, I did take pictures of what the tenderloins looked like coming out of the slow cooker but when Baby Cakes saw them the things he said they reminded him of well, let's just say they are not appetizing. So with that in mind I chose to only show pictures of the shredded pork.

Oh and please don't judge my pictures like I said it was after 9 and I just wanted to get it plated and on the table. I wouldn't win an award for presentation and then again I'm not trying to.

XOXO.

Thai Baked Peanut Chicken

This recipe was found the other day while searching through a November 2009 issue of a Women's Day Magazine. (My Grandmother always gives me her magazines when she's finished with them and I am not afraid to admit that I happen to buy alot of them myself as well. I sort of have a magazine addiction, especially if they feature recipes.) It was on an advertisment page for A Taste of Thai food products. I always seem to be drawn to those recipes, you know the ones printed on a ad page in a magazine, perhaps because I know that most of them are quick recipes to make.

Anyway, recently a friend of Baby Cakes took him to a thia resturant during thier lunch break, so he took me a few days later, and I took my co-worker and so on and so on. Who knew that I would LOVE thia food that much. Love it! To me it's like indian meets chinese, more so on the indian side. Curried foods and a sweet creamy thia tea drink? I am so in heaven. So when I saw this recipe I knew I had to check it out. Boy am I glad I did. It has a subtle sweetness and a bit of a spicy bite at the end. I think it was perfect!

Baby Cakes gives it a thumb up, I actually liked this one more than he did. His exact words? "I like this because it's easy on you to make." Awww, how sweet. Don't tell him yet but he gets to clean the kitchen. Wink.

If you like peanut butter, if you like chicken, if you like fast meals then make this dish!


Thai Baked Peanut Chicken
recipe from an A Taste of Thai ad

2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can (13.5 oz) A Taste of Thai Coconut Milk
1 packet (3.5 oz) A Taste of Thai Peanut Sauce Mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add peanut sauce mix (both inner packets) and coconut milk to a baking dish. Whisk until smooth. Add chicken, dredging both side of chicken in peanut sauce.

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until done.

Spoon extra sauce over rice, potatoes or pasta.


Like I said, I love this recipe. I really can't say enough about how wonderful it was. I chose to serve it over brown rice and it was just perfect. Yum yum.

XOXO,

Pepper Jelly and Soy Glazed Salmon

First off I want to say that I have missed my blog something fierce and neva eva want to go this long without it again! I am back, for longer than one post I pray and hope that I didn't lose too many, if any, followers/fans while I was away.

Baby Cakes and I are trying to eat healthier so what could be better for us than fish? I get like this sometimes and he recently grabbed a tiny little roll of flab, I don't even thing you can call it that, and said he wanted to eat better so here we are. (The truth is that it's no surprise, I haven't been cooking lately, in about what 3 months? So take-out has been our lifeline lately. Shame on me I know.) This Salmon recipe might not be considered "healthy" by some but hey, it tastes wonderful and Baby Cakes ate the entire thing just to prove it. (Not kidding, the entire thing except for my one little peice!)

I found this recipe in an issue of Better Homes & Gardens awhile back and because it has been stored in my recipe box for well, I don't know how long, there is no date or issue number to give you. Although I bet if you run a search for it you could probably find it somewhere.

Like I said this recipe is wonderful. I did change two itty bitty ingredients in the recipe and that was adding brown sugar and not using cilantro.

(Now keep in mind that I took this picture after I cut, plated and served it. I wish I had taken a picture of the entire fillet. XOXO.)

Pepper Jelly and Soy Glazed Salmon
from Better Homes & Gardens

2 lbs. fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillet, about 1 inch thick
2/3 cup green jalapeno pepper jelly
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 green onions, sliced
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sliced fresh jalapeno chile peppers and/or green onions

Thaw the fish if frozen. Rinse fish, pat dry.

In saucepan melt jelly over low heat. Stir in next seven ingredients, all but brown sugar.

Place fish in shallow dish; pour mixture over fish. Cover; refriderate 1 to 2 hours, turning fish occasionally.

Preheat oven broiler on low.

Remove fish from marinade; reserve marinade.

Place fish on a greased sheet of heavy-duty foil and then tent it with another peice of foil; place under the broiler and cook for 15-18 minutes or until fish flakes when tested with a fork.

Add brown sugar to reserved marinade and then bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Drizzle over fish; sprinkle peppers and green onions before serving.


It was moist and flavorful. I loved the glaze and infact will probably trying this with chicken too. Soooo good. XOXO,

Cherry Clafoutis

This weekend I hosted a girls night. My sisters, sister-in-laws and I got together at my house for a grown up game night and sleep over. It was so fun. We stayed up all night, really all night!, and had way too many drinks. I learned a few things about myself because of this party, #1 I am too old to stay up all night, I still feel like I have jet lag today and #2 next time I will ban all men. Baby Cakes is a social butterfly and he decided not to make other plans and to stick around for the night. He was a doll and catered to us girls all night but it just would have been more carefree without him there, so next time, NO MEN!!!

The morning after we partied hearty I was in charge of making breakfast for the ladies and myself. I chose to make a dish that might not actually be considered breakfast, infact it is actually a dessert dish but I thought you only live once. I first saw this recipe on Food Network on a cooking show called Secrets of a Resturant Chef. Love that show, love Anne Burrell and love this dish. To me it had the feel of bread pudding, the dense sweet creamy goodness of it but with sweet tart cherries as well. I am a new found clafouti fool and WILL be making it again, alot!



Cherry Clafoutis
recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell

1/2 stick butter, melted, plus more for baking dish
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for baking dish
1 pound fresh cherries, pitted and cut in 1/2 or 1 box frozen cherries
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
Powdered sugar
Ice cream or whipped cream, for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Generously butter and flour a 7 by 5-inch baking dish or 6 individual, wide, flat gratin dishes.

Add the cherries, in an even layer, to the prepared baking dish.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the almonds, sugar, flour and salt and pulse until they are coarsely chopped. In a large bowl, using a whisk, combine the eggs, milk, vanilla and lemon zest until they are homogeneous. Add in the melted butter and the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour over the cherries.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the center is set and the top is golden brown.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream or whipped cream or both!



When I saw her make this I knew it would be a stellar dish and boy oh boy was I right. This is so good. Make it, you'll love it!

We topped ours with powdered sugar and whipped cream but it would be so good served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I will posting a few of the drinks from girls night in the next few days. Tequila Sunrise, Rusty Nickel, Red-Headed Slut and Lindsey Lohan (if your not a drinker and find this offensive my apologizes).

Love.

Carrot Raisin Salad

My Grandma Lolly's Birthday was June 30th so we all got together yesterday to celebrate it. Infact all three of her children were there, something that hasn't been accomplished since my Grandpa passed away 15 years ago. Yeah it's been a long time. It was nice seeing the Aunt and Uncle that I haven't seen then and one of my cousins and his son were able to come as well. It was relaxed and comfortable. A really, really good day.

Grandma had called me last week to go over the list of still needed items and dishes people are bringing and I hadn't heard her say fruit salad of any kind so I told her I would bringing that and some Taffy Apple Salad. She sounded pleased and that's the idea so I brought along these two recipes, the follwing recipe being Carrot Raisin Salad.

Now I know you've probably had carrot salad, most people have but in truth it had been so long for me and even when I had had it in the past I never really paid attention to the flavors going on. Probably because I didn't cook back then, now everything I taste I think about what spices I taste and how I would make it if I made it, etc. etc. So I had to run a search for this one and I'm glad I did. I picked out the once recipe that wasn't exactly like all the others I was finding. It was a website titled Blisstree.com. Sometimes just searching by photo will bring you into a whole new world of food blogging. Check her out.

Oh and I doubled the below recipe.


Carrot Raisin Salad

8 carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
2 tbs light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/3 to 1/2 cup Hellmann’s Mayo

Mix together and allow flavors to blend for one hour. Makes 8 servings.


I loved it. It was slightly sweet and had a bit of cinnamon spice to it. Wonderful dish. I'll certainly be making this again soon.

Who knew,

Taffy Apple Salad

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you all had a lovely day, enjoyed some sunshine and good food. I haven't had a chance to read everyones posts yet to know what you had but I thought I'd share what I had or brought as the case may be.

My Grandma Lolly's Birthday was June 30th so we all got together yesterday to celebrate it. Infact all three of her children were there, something that hasn't been accomplished since my Grandpa passed away 15 years ago. Yeah it's been a long time. It was nice seeing the Aunt and Uncle that I haven't seen in that long of a time and one of my cousins and his son were able to come as well. It was relaxed and comfortable. A really, really good day.

Grandma had called me last week to go over the list of still needed items and dishes people are bringing and I hadn't heard her say fruit salad of any kind so I told her I would bringing that and some Carrot Raisin Salad. She sounded pleased and that's the idea so I brought along these two recipes, the follwing recipe being Taffy Apple Salad.

I found this recipe while searching for a fruit salad that everyone hasn't had a million times before. This is certainly diffrent and tasty. The recipe was found on the Taste of Home website. I loved the sauce/cream, to me it tasted just like that fruit dip you buy in the produce section. Loved it. Won't be changing a thing about this recipe.


Taffy Apple Salad

1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
4-1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 cups diced unpeeled apples
1-1/2 cups lightly salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. In a large bowl, combine pineapple and marshmallows; cover and refrigerate for several hours.

In a saucepan, combine the egg, sugars, flour, vinegar and reserved pineapple juice; cook and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from the heat; cool. Cover and refrigerate.

Fold whipped topping into the chilled dressing. Add the apples and peanuts to the pineapple and marshmallows. Fold dressing into fruit mixture. Refrigerate leftovers.


I loved it and after taking a giant bowl there I only came home with about 1/3 of the bowl full. There wasn't that many of us there. Grin.

This would be great in the fall as well. The caramel flavor would easily lend itself as a fall themed party dish.

Love.